This invention relates to a solid state thermostatic device having a digital display capable of providing a visual readout of selected system related data.
As illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,677, solid state thermostatic control devices are known in the art. As is well known, these solid state devices consume little energy, and are thus inexpensive to operate, and can be packaged in compact attractive units that are suitable for mounting on the wall of a room in a home or an office.
As disclosed in the above noted patent, the importance of conserving energy has pointed up the need for control devices which will automatically reduce the temperature level in an air conditioned region during the hours when the region is not being occupied or actively used. Typically this will occur during the nighttime hours. Accordingly, most thermostats are now being equipped with two channel control circuits which can be independently programmed to maintain the controlled region at a higher temperature for a selected period of the day and a lower temperature for the remainder of the day.
One serious drawback associated with many multichannel control systems, whether solid state or otherwise, resides in the fact that the device is extremely difficult to set up or program so as to carry out the desired energy saving functions. This is due, among other things, to the fact that the adjustable controls for programming the device are typically situated in a relatively inaccessible location and, furthermore, the controls are difficult to read. Accurate programming of the equipment thus becomes a tedious and time consuming process. By the same token, once the device is set up, it is hard to determine at some later date what values were put into the controls. As a consequence, the thermostat will oftentimes be misused or the energy saving feature neglected thus defeating the purpose for which it was designed.